Now is a great time to invest in a rental Low home prices and low interest rates make this a great time to become an investor.

If you're thinking about investing in a rental property, experts say low home prices combined with low interest rates make this the best time in years to become a real-estate investor.

What's more, the real-estate market is starting to recover: U.S. houses lost $489 billion in value during the first 11 months of 2009, but that was significantly lower than the $3.6 trillion lost during 2008, according to real-estate website Zillow.com.

"We haven't seen home prices this low in so many years, coupled with the rates being so low," says Jill Sjolin, an agent with Windermere Real Estate in Woodinville, Wash., who specializes in investment properties. "When the money is cheap to borrow and the houses are cheap to buy, it's absolutely the best time to invest."

While the timing may be right, this might be the opportunity of a lifetime.